Work support system, work support method and computer-readable recording medium

ABSTRACT

A work support system of an embodiment of the present invention includes a task information display control unit to display a list screen where contents information of tasks to be processed using an application is displayed as a plurality of task indices and a screen control unit to cause the list screen to transit to an application screen corresponding to the selected task index when the task index is selected on the list screen and to display the task index at a part of the application screen.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a work support system, work supportmethod and computer-readable recording medium.

2. Background Art

Sole proprietors or corporate owners in the restaurant business orretail business often perform business management using businessoriented application programs such as accounting applications to performtax payment processing of fixed property tax, sole proprietorship tax,or the like, salary applications to perform salary calculationprocessing of workers, employment management applications to performmanagement of workers shift in a store and attendance managementprocessing of workers, sales management programs to perform salestotaling or analysis by days or months of a store, notification documentmanagement programs to produce/manage notification documents for relatedbusiness operators or workers, and point of purchase advertising (POP)production applications to produce POP that is an advertising medium forsales promotion used in stores.

A large part of operations processed using these business orientedapplication programs includes “to dos” or “things that has to be done”(hereinafter referred to as a “to do task”) at a predetermined time suchas business report, declaration, or salary payment processing.

Meanwhile, there is a technique to generate a ToDo list and performexecution management by varying display of ToDo tasks based onattribution thereof in order to manage a plurality of ToDo tasks (e.g.refer to Japanese Translation of PCT International ApplicationPublication No. JP-T-2014-518409).

For details, Japanese Translation of PCT International ApplicationPublication No. JP-T-2014-518409 discloses a device to be connected to anatural language processing (NLP) service in a cloud via a network anddescribes about generating a task (reminder) through NLP processing ofmails or conversations and displaying the task based on attributionthereof.

According to the above related technique, generation of a ToDo listbecomes easier while the contents of the ToDo task can be easilygrasped. However, there is an issue that, when the technique is appliedto the restaurant business or retail business where operation is carriedout by a plurality of business oriented application programs asdescribed above, cooperation with the business oriented applicationprograms used for processing of the ToDo tasks is not considered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to enable easy execution of anapplication program used for processing of a ToDo task.

A work support system of an embodiment of the present invention includesa task information display control unit to display a list screen wherecontents information of tasks to be processed using an application isdisplayed as a plurality of task indices and a screen control unit tocause the list screen to transit to an application screen correspondingto the selected task index when the task index is selected on the listscreen and to display the task index at a part of the applicationscreen.

A work support method of an embodiment of the present invention includesa first step of displaying a list screen where contents information tobe processed using an application is displayed as a plurality of taskindices, a second step of causing the list screen to transit to anapplication screen corresponding to a selected task index when the taskindex is selected on the list screen, and a third step of displaying theselected task index at a part of the application screen.

A computer-readable recording medium of an embodiment of the presentinvention is a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storinga program for causing a computer to execute the procedures of displayinga list screen where contents information of tasks to be processed usingan application is displayed as a plurality of task indices, causing thelist screen to transit to an application screen corresponding to theselected task index when the task index is selected on the list screen,and displaying the task index at a part of the application screen.

The present invention enables easy execution of an application programused for processing of a ToDo task.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a work supportsystem;

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary portal service screen ona PC;

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating an exemplary portal service screen ona portable terminal;

FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining screen transition of the work supportsystem;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary accounting managementapplication processing screen;

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating first exemplary display of a taskindex;

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating second exemplary display of a taskindex;

FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating third exemplary display of a taskindex;

FIG. 5D is a diagram illustrating other exemplary display of a taskindex;

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating exemplary display of a task index onan application processing screen;

FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating other exemplary display of a taskindex on the application processing screen;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a control flow of terminationprocessing of a ToDo task;

FIG. 8 is a diagram explaining a configuration to control portal screentransition; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a taskDB.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the drawings.

<<System Configuration>>

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a work supportsystem 1 of the embodiment.

The work support system 1 performs work support of portable terminals 2a and 2 b or personal computers (PCs) 3 a and 3 b that are userterminals, connected thereto in the form of cloud computing, such assmartphones or tablet terminals. Hereinafter, the portable terminals 2 aand 2 b and PCs 3 a and 3 b are collectively referred to as userterminals. Incidentally, the PCs 3 a and 3 b may be dedicated terminalssuch as electronic registers or POS terminals.

Specifically, the work support system 1 of the embodiment performs worksupport of sales management operation 7 to perform sales totaling oranalysis by days or months of a store with a sales information DB,accounting management operation 8 to perform tax payment processing offixed property tax, sole proprietorship tax, or the like with anaccounting information DB, salary management operation 9 to performsalary calculation processing of workers with a salary DB, employmentmanagement operation 10 to perform management of workers shift in astore and attendance management processing of workers with an employmentinformation DB, document management operation 11 to produce/managenotification documents for related business operators or workers, orpoint of purchase advertising (POP) production operation 12 to producePOP that is an advertising medium for sales promotion used in stores.

Each of the above operations is provided as an application program(hereinafter simply referred to as an “application”) executed by aserver device and is used from the user terminal. The server deviceincludes a storage unit formed by a nonvolatile storage device such as ahard disc drive, a memory formed by a volatile storage device such as aRAM, an arithmetic unit, such as a CPU, to execute a program retained inthe storage unit by reading the program in the memory and to performdetermination, arithmetic operation, and control processing, and acommunication unit, connected to a network, to perform communicationprocessing with another device.

<<Outline of ToDo Portal Service>>

The user terminal can directly and individually execute an applicationof the aforementioned individual operation; however, there is an issueof complicated processing such that it is desired to perform managementof execution locations or login processing of the individual operationapplication for each individual application. Also, there is anotherissue that it is not easy to integrally manage and execute ToDo tasks ofthe respective operations.

Therefore, the work support system 1 of the embodiment provides, to theuser terminal, ToDo portal service 5 to perform integrated management ofToDo tasks of the aforementioned respective operations and activation ofan application related to the ToDo task.

This enables one stop service of the operations.

This ToDo portal service 5 is a web application in cooperation with theaforementioned respective operation applications described in a markuplanguage such as HTMLS and is provided as an application in a serverdevice. The user terminal accesses this application by a web browser orthe like and executes the ToDo portal service 5.

Furthermore, the work support system 1 of the embodiment includes a taskDB 6 to store ToDo tasks for each user terminal (user). The ToDo portalservice 5 refers to this DB 6 and displays, on the user terminal, a listof task indices 23 which represents an outline of the ToDo tasks andserves as an index for executing the related operation applications. TheToDo portal service 5 further activates an application related to theToDo task upon operation of the task index 23 by the user.

The work support system 1 further includes a user authentication unit 4.The ToDo portal service 5 performs login authentication of the userterminal (user) in cooperation with the user authentication unit 4. Thisuser authentication collectively performs authentication processing uponactivation of applications related to the ToDo tasks. Details thereofwill be described later.

As a result, activation of applications related to the ToDo tasksbecomes easier, thereby enhancing usability.

<<Portal Service Screen on PC>>

Next, a screen configuration of a portal service screen displayed on theuser terminal will be described with FIGS. 2A and 2B.

FIG. 2A illustrates the portal service screen displayed on a screen by aweb browser of the PCs 3 a and 3 b.

<<Menu Bar of Application>>

In the upper part of the portal service screen, a menu bar is displayedwhere icons for activating a plurality of business oriented applicationprograms (hereinafter collectively referred to as “application icons20”) is arranged for each application.

Specifically, the menu bar displays an application icon 20 a of salesmanagement operation 7, application icon 20 b of accounting managementoperation 8, application icon 20 c of salary management operation 9,application icon 20 d of employment management operation 10, applicationicon 20 e of POP production operation 12, and application icon 20 f ofdocument management operation 11.

When the user clicks or taps on the application icon 20 in the menu bar,screen transition to a predetermined processing screen of theapplication corresponding to the application icon 20 occurs, therebyallowing for activating the operation application. Here, thepredetermined processing screen may be a processing screen of arepresentative function of a plurality of functions of the application,an initial screen, or a setting screen.

This menu bar is always displayed even after screen transition to theprocessing screen of the application.

<<Task Registration Area>>

Below the aforementioned menu bar, a task registration area (text box)21 denoted as “Enter task.” is displayed. Inputting letters in this areaallows the user to manually register a ToDo task separately from theToDo tasks notified by the respective operation applications, details ofwhich will be described later.

<<Total Task Number Display Area>>

Below the task registration area 21, a total task number display area 22is displayed. This total task number display area 22 displays a totalnumber of ToDo tasks (ten tasks in FIG. 2A) and the number of ToDo tasksof each application together with the corresponding application icon 20.

The ToDo portal service 5 increases the number of ToDo tasks of theapplication upon receiving a task notification from the operationapplication and decreases the number of ToDo tasks when the userexecutes the application corresponding to the ToDo task. The totalnumber of ToDo tasks increases or decreases in conjunction with anincrease or decrease of the number of ToDo tasks.

This allows the user to easily grasp an amount of ToDo tasks to beprocessed.

<<Task Index List Display Area>>

Below the total task number display area 22, a task index list displayarea 25 displaying a list of task indices representing an outline ofToDo tasks is displayed. The task index list display area 25 displays aplurality of unprocessed task indices 23 a, 23 b, 23 c, and 23 d ofunprocessed ToDo tasks and processed task indices 23 e, 23 f, 23 g, 23h, and 23 i of processed ToDo tasks.

Incidentally, in the descriptions below, the respective task indices arecollectively referred to as task indices 23.

The task index list display area 25 displays, for example, a list ofunprocessed task indices 23 in the order of deadline dates with earlierdates arranged earlier (ascending order). Subsequently, a list ofprocessed task indices 23 is displayed in the order of processed dateswith later dates arranged earlier (descending order).

Incidentally, when the number of task indices 23 to display in the listis larger than the number of task indices that can be displayed in thetask index list display area 25, the list of task indices 23 isdisplayed in a scrollable manner.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, the number of displayed unprocessedtask indices 23 is increased by not displaying the icons or deadlinedates of the processed task indices 23 and thereby reducing the amountof displayed information.

Alternatively, the task index list display area 25 of the ToDo tasks maydisplay only the unprocessed task indices 23 and the processed taskindices 23 may be deleted from the list (not displayed).

In this case, it is preferable that a display button to allow displayingthe processed task indices 23 is provided.

The task indices 23 listed on the portal service screen include thecontents of the task to be processed using the application, a first iconto transit to a head screen or initial screen of the application, and asecond icon to transit to an operation screen, of the application,corresponding to the contents of the task to be processed. Details willbe described later.

Moreover, depending to the contents of the task, the task index 23 maynot display the second icon but display the contents of the task to beprocessed using the application and the first icon to transit to a headscreen or initial screen of the application.

When the first icon displayed in the task index 23 is clicked or tappedon by the user, the portal service screen transits to a head screen orinitial screen of the application for processing the ToDo task.

When the second icon displayed in the task index 23 is clicked or tappedon by the user, the portal service screen transits to an operationscreen corresponding to the contents of the ToDo task of the applicationto process the ToDo task, thereby allowing for processing the ToDo taskusing the application.

Also, when a rectangular area of the unprocessed task index 23 displayedin the task index list display area 25 is clicked or tapped on by theuser, the portal service screen may transit to a head screen or initialscreen of the application for processing the ToDo task to allowactivation of the application.

<<Gadget Display Area>>

In the left end part of the portal service screen, a gadget display area24 to display real-time sales information or the like is provided. Thisgadget display area 24 and the menu bar of applications are alwaysdisplayed on a screen even after screen transition.

Therefore, a processing screen of the application activated by clickingor tapping on the icon is displayed on a screen area excluding thegadget display area 24 and a display area of the application icons 20 inthe upper part of the screen.

<<Portal Service Screen on Portable Terminal>>

FIG. 2B illustrates a portal service screen displayed on a screen by aweb browser of the portable terminals 2 a and 2 b.

The portable terminals 2 a and 2 b often have a display screen longer inthe vertical direction with shorter width as compared to those of thePCs 3 a and 3 b. Display contents on the PCs 3 a and 3 b may bedisplayed in a reduced size according to the size of the screen;however, in order to prevent deterioration of display quality due toreduction display, the portable terminals 2 a and 2 b have a displayform to secure the task index list display area 25 without displayingthe gadget display area 24.

Specifically, the menu bar of applications is arranged in the upper partof the screen, below which the task registration area 21, total tasknumber display area 22, and task index list display area 25 of the ToDotasks are arranged. The contents of each area are similar to those inFIG. 2A and thus descriptions thereon are omitted here.

Meanwhile, of the portable terminals 2 a and 2 b, some terminals have afunction to change the direction of screen display according to thedirection of the terminal. In such a terminal, display of the portalservice screen including the gadget display area 24 illustrated in FIG.2A and the portal service screen illustrated in FIG. 2B may be switchedaccording to the direction of the terminal.

<<Screen Transition>>

Here, an outline of screen transition in the user terminal controlled bythe work support system 1 of the embodiment will be described with FIG.3.

When the ToDo portal service 5 (see FIG. 1) is activated and accessedfrom the user terminal, the ToDo portal service 5 displays a loginscreen 31 on the user terminal in cooperation with the userauthentication unit 4 (see FIG. 1).

When a login ID and password of the user is input on the login screen 31and authentication by the user authentication unit 4 is performed, theToDo portal service 5 displays a portal screen 32 (see FIGS. 2A and 2B)corresponding to the user based on the login ID.

Here, authentication processing of the operation application is alsoperformed, thereby skipping authentication processing upon activatingthe operation application on the portal screen. The authenticationprocessing of the operation application will be described later.

Specifically, the user authentication unit 4 manages the login ID andpassword of the operation applications for each user terminal (user)and, after authentication on the login screen 31, a password of theoperation application is notified to the ToDo portal service 5. The ToDoportal service 5 performs authentication processing of the operationapplication based on the notified password.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 2A or 2B, when a “Log out” button onthe portal screen 32 is clicked or tapped on, the ToDo portal service 5performs logout processing and transits to the login screen 31. Here,logout processing of the operation application is also performed.

Clicking or tapping on the icon described in FIGS. 2A and 2B causes theToDo portal service 5 to display an application processing screen 33 ofthe application related to the icon. This allows for performingprocessing of the ToDo task.

When processing of service on the application processing screen 33 isfinished, the ToDo portal service 5 returns to the portal screen 32 anddisplays a list of unprocessed task indices 23 and processed taskindices 23.

Here, the task index of the processed ToDo task moves from a group ofunprocessed task indices 23 to a group of processed task indices 23 andthereby listed.

The application processing screen 33 may transit to the login screen 31.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 2A or 2B, the portal screen 32 orapplication processing screen 33 displays a settings icon or accountname button. When one of the above is clicked or tapped on, the ToDoportal service 5 transits to a various settings screen 35, therebyallowing for displaying/changing account information or changingsettings of a program of the ToDo portal service 5.

When a system error occurs on the login screen 31, portal screen 32,application processing screen 33, or various settings screen 35,transition to an error screen 34 occurs and the contents of the errorare displayed. Logout processing is then performed and transition to thelogin screen 31 occurs.

On the login screen 31, portal screen 32, application processing screen33, or various settings screen 35, a “Help” button or “User policy”display button is provided. When one of the buttons is clicked or tappedon, transition to a support screen 36 occurs and help information suchas “How to use the application program” or a user policy is displayed.

Next, the application processing screen 33 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary processing screen of theaccounting management operation 8.

In the upper part of the screen, a menu bar of the applications isprovided where the application icons 20 same as those on the portalscreen in FIGS. 2A and 2B are displayed. Furthermore, the applicationicon 20 b of the accounting management operation 8 and the processingscreen of the accounting management operation 8 are associated by atriangular FIG. 41 representing relation therebetween.

This allows the user to easily recognize that the processing screen isrelated to the accounting management operation 8.

The application icons 20 in the menu bar of the applications in theupper part of the screen are displayed on the application processingscreen 33 (see FIG. 3) for each application in a fixed manner regardlessof the contents of the application processing screen 33.

Clicking or tapping on any of these application icons 20 results inscreen transition to a predetermined processing screen of theapplication corresponding to the application icon 20, thereby allowingfor activation of the application.

This allows for activating another business oriented application programwithout returning to the portal screen.

A “Return” button 40 is displayed near the menu bar. Clicking or tappingon the “Return” button 40 results in returning to the portal screen 32(see FIG. 3). Here, when processing of ToDo task is finished, theunprocessed task index 23 of the ToDo task is changed to the processedtask index 23.

The application to process the accounting management operation 8 in FIG.4 has a plurality of functions (programs) and displays each of thefunctions in a tab bar 42 as tabs of letters representing names of thefunctions.

Specifically, processing of each of “Basic configuration”, “Tradeinput”, “Declaration”, “Ledger/Subsidiary book”, “Settlement ofaccounts”, and “Balance brought forward” of the accounting managementoperation 8 is allocated to the tab in the tab bar 42.

Clicking or tapping on one of the tabs in the tab bar 42 results inactivation of the function (program) allocated to the tab.

A processing screen of the “Ledger/Subsidiary book” tab in the tab bar42 is of display service of a general ledger. Moreover, the processingscreen of this “Ledger/Subsidiary book” tab is a representativeprocessing screen of the accounting management operation 8. Clicking ortapping on the application icon 20 b on a processing screen of anotherapplication other than the accounting management operation 8 or theportal screen 32 results in transition to the processing screen of this“ledger/subsidiary book” tab.

There are also cases where the icon of the task index 23 or arectangular area of the task index 23 and the processing screen of this“Ledger/Subsidiary book” tab are associated. Details will be describedlater.

A processing screen 45 is associated with the “Ledger/Subsidiary book”tab by a triangular FIG. 43 representing relation therebetween. Thisallows the user to easily recognize that the processing screen 45 isrelated to processing of “Ledger/Subsidiary book” of the accountingmanagement operation 8.

The processing screen 45 displays the contents of the general ledger inaccounting processing by setting search conditions. Detaileddescriptions on a screen configuration thereof are omitted.

Furthermore, a task display field 44 to simply display the contents ofthe related task index 23 is provided on the processing screen 45. Thetask display field 44 displays, for example, a comment as of generationof the ToDo task, which is also displayed in the task index 23.

This allows the user to easily grasp the sequence of work even when theuser has left half way in the work and restarted the work afterreturning afterwards.

Also, a check box 46 of “Processed” is provided in the task displayfield 44. When processing of accounting processing service on theprocessing screen 45 has been finished and the check box 46 has beenchecked, clicking or tapping on the “Return” button 40 results inreturning to the portal screen.

Here, the task index 23 is set as processed and is updated from thegroup of unprocessed task indices 23 to the group of processed taskindices 23. When a list of unprocessed task indices 23 solely isdisplayed, the processed task index 23 is not displayed in the list.

<<Application Color>>

In the above, descriptions have been given on that the“Ledger/Subsidiary book” tab and the application icon 20 b areassociated by the triangular FIG. 41. Another method to discriminate thetab bar 42 and application icons (20 a to 201) will be described.

Although not specifically illustrated, display colors of an businessoriented application corresponding to an application icon are displayedin predetermined unified hue while display colors of different hue areused for each of the business oriented applications.

Specifically, a display color of the application icon 20 b and tab bar42 is blue while the “Ledger/Subsidiary book” tab and other tabs in thetab bar 42 are displayed in the same hue with different brightness.

Here, it is more preferable if the processing screen 45 is displayedwith blue as a base color.

As described above, unifying the display colors of the business orientedapplication enhances visibility of the application, thereby enhancingusability.

<<Display Type of Task Index>>

Next, exemplary display of the unprocessed task index 23 illustrated inFIGS. 2A and 2B will be described with FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C.

As for a display form of the task index 23, there are following threetypes with regard to handling association with applications forprocessing the ToDo tasks.

One is a case of a ToDo task requiring processing using the applicationas illustrated in FIG. 5A. In this type, a display area 51 of anapplication icon (first icon) for transition to a head screen or initialscreen of the application, a comment display area 52 to display thecontents of the task to be processed using the application, a displayarea 53 of registered date of the ToDo task, a display area 54 of adeadline of the ToDo task and the number of remaining days, a thumbnaildisplay area 55 (second icon) to display a thumbnail image of a graph ortable corresponding to an operation screen for transition to anoperation screen of the application corresponding to the contents of theToDo task to be processed, and a check box 56, for entering thatprocessing of the ToDo task has been completed, are displayed.

In this type, the thumbnail image is associated with a function of theapplication to process the ToDo task and thereby made as an icon.Clicking or tapping on this icon results in transition to a processingscreen (operation screen) of the application corresponding to thecontents of the ToDo task to be processed.

In exemplary display as illustrated in FIG. 5A, a thumbnail image ofwork shift table is displayed as a second icon. A function (applicationprogram) of shift management in an employment management operationapplication is associated therewith.

A second type is for the case of a ToDo task requiring processing withthe application as illustrated in FIG. 5B. Unlike in FIG. 5A, thethumbnail display area 55 (second icon) to display a thumbnail image ofa graph or table corresponding to an operation screen for transition toan operation screen of the application corresponding to the contents ofthe ToDo task to be processed is not displayed.

In this type, a display area 51 of the application icon (first icon)displayed in the task indices 23 and the rectangular area of the taskindex 23 are associated with a function of the application to processthe ToDo task. Clicking or tapping on the rectangular area of the taskindex 23 results in screen transition from the portal screen 32 to anoperation screen of the application to process the contents of the ToDotask.

Furthermore, when the display area 51 of the application icon is clickedor tapped on, the portal screen 32 transits to a head screen or initialscreen of the application corresponding to the application icon.

A third type is for the case of a ToDo task not requiring processingwith the application as illustrated in FIG. 5C such as statenotification from the application. The task index 23 displays thethumbnail display area 55 (second icon) to display a thumbnail image ofa graph or table illustrating the state of the operation.

In this type, it is not required to activate the application in order toprocess the ToDo task and thus no function of the application to processthe ToDo task is not associated to the thumbnail.

<<Configuration of Display Fields>>

Next, display contents of the task index 23 will be described in detailwith FIG. 5A. Incidentally, FIGS. 5B and 5C also have a similar displayfield configuration.

A display area of the task index 23 includes the display area 51 of theapplication icon (first icon) for transition to a head screen or initialscreen of the application, comment display area 52 to display thecontents of the generated ToDo task, display area 53 representing aregistered date of the ToDo task, display area 54 representing adeadline of the ToDo task and the number of remaining days, thumbnaildisplay area 55 (second icon) to display a thumbnail image of a graph ortable corresponding to an operation screen for transition to anoperation screen of the application corresponding to the contents of theToDo task to be processed, and a check box 56 for entering thatprocessing of the ToDo task has been completed.

Display contents of each of the display areas are stored in the task DB6 (see FIG. 1) and is displayed in a list. The task DB 6 will bedescribed later.

The aforementioned display configuration of the task index 23 allows foreasily grasping the contents of the unprocessed ToDo task.

Moreover, each of an icon image in the display area 51 of theapplication icon and the thumbnail image displayed in the thumbnaildisplay area 55 is associated with a different function (processing) andthereby iconized. Clicking or tapping on one of these icons allows forselecting and activating the application to process the ToDo task,thereby allowing processing of the ToDo task to be performed easily.

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, also in a case where a thumbnail is notdisplayed, associating a function of the application to process the ToDotask with the rectangular area of the task index 23 and therebyiconizing allow for easy activation of the application to process theToDo task.

Specifically, when an area excluding the display area 51 of theapplication icon from the rectangular area of the task index 23 isclicked or tapped on, the portal screen 32 transits to an operationscreen of the application for processing the contents of the ToDo task.

Furthermore, when the display area 51 of the application icon is clickedor tapped on, the portal screen 32 transits to a head screen or initialscreen of the application corresponding to the application icon.

In the task index 23 illustrated in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, examples wherethe application icon is displayed are illustrated. In the exemplarydisplay, the application corresponding to the task index 23 can beeasily distinguished from the application icon.

As described with FIGS. 2A and 2B, however, since the application icons(20 a to 20 f) are arranged in the menu bar of applications in the upperpart of the portal service screen, control of transition to arepresentative processing screen (or a head screen or initial screen) ofthe application corresponding to the task index 23 by clicking ortapping on the application icon in the task index 23 may not beperformed.

In this case, the application icon in the task index 23 is treated assimple image information. Clicking or tapping on the application iconarea results in transition to a processing screen of a function ofservice associated with the task index 23.

Alternatively, the task index 23 may not display the application icon.Even in this case, the display contents in the comment display area 52of the ToDo task allows for recognizing the operation contents to beprocessed and clicking or tapping on the task index 23 results intransition to a processing screen of a function of predeterminedservice.

FIG. 5D is exemplary display of the task index 23 in FIG. 5B withoutdisplaying the application icon.

Next, exemplary display of the task display field 44 to simply displaythe contents of the task index 23 on the application processing screenin FIG. 4 will be described with FIGS. 6A and 6B.

As illustrated in FIG. 6A, the check box 46 of “processed”, commentdisplay area 52 of a ToDo task similar to that of the task index 23,display area 54 of a deadline of the ToDo task and the number ofremaining days are provided in the task display field 44.

The task display field 44 displays an application processing screen suchthat the sequence of work can be understood. Therefore, there is no needto provide the display area 51 of the application icon or the thumbnaildisplay area 55 to display a thumbnail image icon of a graph or tableshowing a processing state of service in the task indices 23 in FIGS.5A, 5B, and 5C.

FIG. 6B is an example of the task display field 44 in FIG. 6A where adisplay area 53 of a registered date of the ToDo task is furtherprovided. In this case, the display contents are the same as those ofthe task index 23 illustrated in FIG. 5D.

In this manner, providing the task display field 44 on the applicationprocessing screen in FIG. 4 allows for easily grasping the sequence ofwork processing the service and thus even when the work is interruptedleft half way thereof the processing can be restarted smoothly.

Next, a control flow of termination processing of a ToDo task with thecheck box 46 of “processed” in the task display field 44 illustrated inFIG. 4 and the check box 56 of the task index will be described withFIG. 7.

First, whether a check mark is that of the check box in the task index23 is determined (S70). If the check mark is that of the check box on aprocessing screen of the application (No in S70), processing to finishprocessing with the application related to the ToDo task is performedand thus the flow proceeds to step S72.

In step S72, the screen returns to the list of task indices 23 on theportal screen and the flow proceeds to step S77.

Thereafter, in step S77, a processed flag 72 (see FIG. 9. Details willbe described later.), which corresponds to the ToDo task where the taskDB 6 has been processed, is updated to “processed” and a processed date75 (see FIG. 9. Details will be described later.) is set. The flow thenproceeds to step S78.

In step S78, the list of task indices 23 is displayed.

In this manner, when processing with the application is terminated witha check mark set in the check box 56 on a processing screen of theapplication, the ToDo task having been processed is updated to processedand moved from the list of unprocessed task indices 23 to a list ofprocessed task indices 23 or deleted from the list of unprocessed taskindices 23.

If the check mark is that of the check box 46 in the task index 23 instep S70 (Yes in S70), the flow proceeds to step S71.

In step S71, the task DB 6 is referred to based on a task ID of the taskindex 23. In subsequent step S73, whether AP processing is required 71(see FIG. 9. Details will be described later.) for the ToDo task is“required” is determined.

If whether AP processing is required 71 for the ToDo task is not“required” (No in S73), the flow proceeds to step S77 since the ToDotask is a confirmative notification task from service where processingwith the service is not necessarily required. Processing of the ToDotask is then terminated.

If whether AP processing is required 71 for the ToDo task is “required”(Yes in S73), the ToDo task corresponding to the task index is treatedas “processed” or a pop-up window for confirmation is displayed (S74).

Thereafter, “whether processing with the application is performed” isdetermined with regard to the ToDo task (S75). If processing with theapplication is not performed (No in S75), the flow proceeds step S77 andprocessing of the ToDo task is terminated.

If processing of the service is performed in step S75 (Yes in S75), thetask DB 6 is referred to based on a task ID of the task index 23 and aprogram of service or a function of service specified by a program ID 77(see FIG. 9. Details will be described later.) of correspondingprocessing is executed. The flow then returns to step S70.

In this manner, termination processing of the ToDo task can be performedwith the check box 46 and check box 56.

A configuration to control screen transition between the aforementionedportal screen 32 (see FIG. 3) and the processing screen 33 of theapplication (see FIG. 3) will be described with FIG. 8.

The ToDo portal service 5 is implemented as a web application program ina server device and includes a portal screen control unit 61 to performdisplay control and transition control of the portal screen illustratedin FIGS. 2A and 2B and processing screen of the application, a taskinformation display control unit 62 to control displaying a list of taskindices 23, and a task context update unit 63 to control update of thecontents of the task index 23.

Furthermore, the ToDo portal service 5 is connected with a task calendar64 to store a calendar of processing of the respective operations. TheToDo portal service 5 refers to this task calendar 64 and generate aToDo task.

The ToDo portal service 5 is further connected to the task DB 6, whichstores display information of the task index 23 and updates the displaycontents of the task index 23 registered in the task DB 6 based onnotification from the application of each of the operations.

The sales management operation 7, accounting management operation 8,salary management operation 9, and employment management operation 10are implemented as application programs in a server device. Theapplication program of each of the operations has a plurality offunctions (programs) corresponding to the tabs in the tab bar 42illustrated in FIG. 4.

Moreover, the application program of each of the operations includes amain command processing unit 66 to process a representative function anda plurality of subcommand processing units 65 to process otherfunctions.

Next, processing procedure of the ToDo portal service 5 will bedescribed.

The task calendar 64 stores operation events such as a processing dateof year-end adjustment for each year or a salary deposit date of workerfor each month. The ToDo portal service 5 refers to the task calendar 64and acquires the operation events (S01).

The ToDo portal service 5 requests the application of the relatedoperation to issue a task of the ToDo task to be processed based on theacquired operation events (S02).

The application of the employment management operation 10 or the liketransmits, to the ToDo portal service 5, a program ID that isidentification information of the application program to process theToDo task and ToDo task notification including service informationshowing processing state of the operation such as a sales graph or workshift table, thereby responding to the request to issue a task (S03).

Also, when the employment management operation 10 directly receives arequest such a change of shift from a worker, ToDo task notification istransmitted to the ToDo portal service 5. In this case, it is preferablethat service information includes a work shift table as of a requestingdate for the change of shift.

Furthermore, when confirmative notification such as notification ofachieved target sales as illustrated in FIG. 5C is the ToDo task, a ToDotask notification (S03) including a program ID of a function (program)of sales totaling processing, service information showing a sales graph,and comment information to be displayed in the comment display area 52in the task index 23 (FIG. 5A) is transmitted from the application ofthe sales management operation 7 to the ToDo portal service 5.

The ToDo portal service 5, having received the aforementioned ToDo tasknotification (S03), registers the ToDo task notification in the task DB6 as a task (S05).

Incidentally, the ToDo task input in the task registration area (textbox) 21 in FIG. 2A or FIG. 2B is also registered in the task DB 6 as atask (S04).

Here, a configuration of the task DB 6 will be described with FIG. 9.

The task DB 6 is registered with a plurality of items with symbols of 71to 80 as illustrated in FIG. 9 for each task ID 70 allocated to the ToDotask to be registered.

The task DB 6 is referred to for each ToDo task by the task informationdisplay control unit 62 and the registered contents in the task DB 6 aredisplayed in the task index list display area 25 (see FIGS. 2A and 2B)as task indices 23 a to 23 i. The task information display control unit62 will be described later.

The task DB 6 is referred to also by the portal screen control unit 61and the number of ToDo tasks is totaled up for a processing applicationname 76. The total number is displayed on the total task number displayarea 22 (see FIGS. 2A and 2B). The portal screen control unit 61 will bedescribed later.

Next, registering items of the task DB 6 illustrated in FIG. 9 will bedescribed in detail. The contents of the task DB 6 in FIG. 9 correspondto FIG. 5A (Task 0001), FIG. 5B (Task 0002), and FIG. 5C (Task 0003).

Whether application processing is required 71 illustrates whether theToDo task requires processing with the application. Since FIG. 5C (Task0003) is a state notification task from the application as describedearlier, “not required” is set.

The processed flag 72 illustrates whether processing with theapplication corresponding to the ToDo task has been completed. SinceFIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are unprocessed task indices 23 as describedearlier, “unprocessed” is set for all. Processing with the applicationcorresponding to the ToDo task results in setting of “processed”.

The processed flag 72 is referred to by the task information displaycontrol unit 62 for selection of the unprocessed task indices 23 a, 23b, 23 c, and 23 d and processed task indices 23 e, 23 f, 23 g, 23 h, and23 i (see FIG. 2A).

A registered date 73 is information of a date when the ToDo task isregistered. The registered date 73 is referred to by the taskinformation display control unit 62 and displayed in the display area 53of registered date of the ToDo task of the task index 23 (FIG. 5A).

A deadline of processing 74 is information of a date of deadline forprocessing the ToDo task. The deadline of processing 74 is referred toby the task information display control unit 62 and displayed in thedisplay area 54 of deadline of processing of the ToDo task and thenumber of remaining days (FIG. 5A) where the unprocessed task indices 23are listed in an ascending order.

The processed date 75 is information of a date when the applicationcorresponding to the ToDo task is executed and processing of the ToDotask is completed. The processed date 75 is referred to by the taskinformation display control unit 62. The task indices 23 are displayedas a list of processed task indices 23 arranged in the order ofprocessed dates with later dates arranged earlier (descending order).

The processing application name 76 shows a name of the applicationcorresponding to the ToDo task.

A program ID 77 of the corresponding processing is of the application orprogram corresponding to the ToDo task. When the icon in the thumbnaildisplay area 55 in the task index 23 or the rectangular area of the taskindex 23 is clicked or tapped on, the program ID 77 is referred to bythe portal screen control unit 61 and the application specified by theprogram ID is activated.

A comment 78 represents an outline of processing contents of the ToDotask and stores letters to be displayed in the comment display area 52(see FIG. 5A) in the task index 23. The comment 78 is referred to by thetask information display control unit 62 and displayed.

A thumbnail ID 79 shows an identification ID of a thumbnail imagedisplayed in the thumbnail display area 55 (see FIG. 5A) in the taskindex 23.

Thumbnail data 80 is thumbnail image information of table data or graphdata displayed in the thumbnail display area 55.

This thumbnail ID 79 and thumbnail data 80 are referred to by the taskinformation display control unit 62, displayed in the thumbnail displayarea 55 in the task index 23, and updated by the task context updateunit 63 based on update information of a thumbnail image from theapplication.

Referring back to FIG. 8, subsequent processing of the ToDo portalservice 5 will be described.

The portal screen control unit 61 of the ToDo portal service 5 controlsthe task information display control unit 62, displays the portal screenillustrated in FIG. 2A or 2B and controls screen transitioncorresponding to screen operation information such as clicking, tapping,or the like.

The task information display control unit 62 refers to the task DB 6,acquires context of the ToDo task (S06), generates the task index 23,and displays a list based on predetermined priorities.

Furthermore, the task information display control unit 62 changes theunprocessed task index 23 of the ToDo task having been processed to theprocessed task index 23 when the portal screen control unit 61 causestransition from a processing screen of the application to the portalscreen due to completion of processing with the applicationcorresponding to the ToDo task and updates display of the list of thetask indices 23.

Meanwhile, sales of a store or shift schedule of workers vary at anytime and thus service information notified by the ToDo task notification(S03) needs to be updated. Therefore, the task context update unit 63acquires update information of a thumbnail such as a sales table or workshift table generated based on the sales information DB of the salesmanagement operation 7 or the employment information DB of theemployment management operation 10 (S07) and stores the updateinformation in the thumbnail data 80 in the task DB 6, thereby updatesthe context of the ToDo task (S08). Thereafter, the thumbnail in thetask index 23 is updated by the task information display control unit62.

When detecting that an icon in the display area 51 of application iconin the task index 23 is clicked or tapped on, the portal screen controlunit 61 activates the main command processing unit 66 to process arepresentative function of the application related to the icon (S09).

The portal screen control unit 61 further performs screen control suchthat a head screen or initial screen of the application related to theicon by the display information from the main command processing unit 66is displayed instead of display of the list of task indices 23 (S10).

When detecting that the icon in the thumbnail display area 55 in thetask index 23 or the rectangular area of the task index 23 is clicked ortapped on, the portal screen control unit 61 activates the subcommandprocessing unit 65 to process a function of the application related tothe icon or the area (S11). The portal screen control unit 61 furtherperforms screen control such that an operation screen of the applicationcorresponding to the contents of the ToDo task displayed in the taskindex 23 by the display information from the subcommand processing unit65 is displayed instead of display of the list of task indices 23 (S12).

The task context update unit 63 acquires information of processingprogress with the application (S13), and when detecting the completionof processing of the ToDo task, updates the processed flag 72 (see FIG.7) of the corresponding ToDo task in the task DB 6 to “processed” (S14).

The task information display control unit 62 refers to the task DB 6 andchanges the task index 23 corresponding to the ToDo task where theprocessed flag 72 is updated to “processed” from a group of unprocessedtask indices 23 to a group of processed task indices 23, and therebydisplays the list thereof.

As in the work support system of the aforementioned embodiment,displaying at least a part of the contents information of the taskindices 23 on the application processing screen allows for providing amemorandum function. This allows for grasping the sequence of work andthus restarting the work after interruption thereof becomes easier,thereby enhancing usability of the system.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A work support system, comprising: a worksupport server comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the worksupport server communicates with a plurality of applications andmaintains a to-do calendar of tasks to be performed by a user of theplurality of applications, and wherein the processor of the work supportserver is configured to execute a program to perform operationscomprising: referring to the to-do calendar and generating a task listuser interface display screen for display on a user display screen, thetask list user interface display screen including a task list of aplurality of task indices, each task index including content of a taskto be processed using one of the plurality of applications, and eachtask index being displayed in a first display form in the task list userinterface display screen, the first display form including a frame thatis displayed to individually surround the task index such that each ofthe task indices is surrounded by an individual frame, and the firstdisplay form including an application icon that is displayed within theframe and corresponds to the task index, the application icon beingselectable to select the task index to transition to an applicationscreen corresponding to the task index; and in response to a user inputwith respect to a selected one of the task indices, transitioning theuser display screen from the task list user interface display screen tothe application screen corresponding to the selected one of the taskindices such that the application screen includes the selected one ofthe task indices in a second display form as a part of the applicationscreen, the second display form including a frame that is displayed toindividually surround the selected one of the task indices, wherein thesecond display form does not include the application icon within theframe; wherein a size of the selected one of the task indices on theuser display screen is smaller in the second display form than in thefirst display form; and wherein a vertical length of the frame of thesecond display form is shorter than a vertical length of the frame ofthe first display form.
 2. The work support system according to claim 1,wherein the second display form includes a check box for setting whetherthe content of the selected one of the task indices has been processed.3. The work support system according to claim 2, wherein the operationsperformed by the processor further comprise: transitioning the userdisplay screen from the application screen back to the task list userinterface display screen; and when the user display screen istransitioned from the application screen back to the task list userinterface display screen, generating the task list user interfacedisplay screen to display the selected one of the task indices in thetask list as a processed task, in response to the check box having beenset to indicate that the content of the selected one of the task indiceshas been processed.
 4. The work support system according to claim 1,wherein the content of each task index includes information related to atime remaining until a deadline for execution of the task.
 5. The worksupport system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality ofapplications include two or more of a sales management application, anaccounting management application, a payroll management application, anemployee management application, and an advertisement developmentapplication.
 6. The work support system according to claim 5, whereinthe plurality of applications include at least the sales managementapplication, the accounting management application, and the employeemanagement application.
 7. A work support system comprising: a processorwhich is configured to execute a program to perform operationscomprising: referring to schedule data stored in a memory and, based onthe schedule data, causing a display to display a task list screen inwhich a plurality of tasks to be processed using an application arearranged as a plurality of task indices, each task index includingcontent of a task to be processed, and each task index being displayedin a first display form in the task list screen, the first display formincluding a frame that is displayed to individually surround the taskindex such that each of the task indices is surrounded by an individualframe, and the first display form including an application icon that isdisplayed within the frame and corresponds to the task index, theapplication icon being selectable to select the task index to transitionto an application screen corresponding to the task index; and inresponse to a user input with respect to a selected one of the taskindices displayed in the task list screen, causing the display to switchfrom displaying the task list screen to displaying the applicationscreen corresponding to the selected one of the task indices, andcausing the display to display the selected one of the task indices in asecond display form as a part of the application screen, the seconddisplay form including a frame that is displayed to individuallysurround the selected one of the task indices, wherein the seconddisplay form does not include the application icon within the frame;wherein a size of the selected one of the task indices on the userdisplay screen is smaller in the second display form than in the firstdisplay form; and wherein a vertical length of the frame of the seconddisplay form is shorter than a vertical length of the frame of the firstdisplay form.
 8. The work support system according to claim 7, whereinthe second display form includes a check box for setting whether thecontent of the selected one of the task indices has been processed. 9.The work support system according to claim 8, wherein the operationsperformed by the processor further comprise: causing the display toswitch from displaying the application screen back to displaying thetask list screen; and when the display is switched from displaying theapplication screen back to displaying the task list screen, causing thedisplay to display the selected one of the task indices in the task listscreen as a processed task, in response to the check box having been setto indicate that the content of the selected one of the task indices hasbeen processed.
 10. The work support system according to claim 7,wherein the content of each task index includes information related to atime remaining until a deadline for execution of the task indicated bythe task index.
 11. The work support system according to claim 7,wherein the task list screen displays tasks to be executed a pluralityof applications, the plurality of applications including two or more ofa sales management application, an accounting management application, apayroll management application, an employee management application, andan advertisement development application.
 12. The work support systemaccording to claim 11, wherein the plurality of applications include atleast the sales management application, the accounting managementapplication, and the employee management application.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program forcausing a computer to execute operations comprising: referring toschedule data stored in a memory and, based on the schedule data,causing a display to display a task list screen in which a plurality oftasks to be processed using an application are arranged as a pluralityof task indices, each task index including content of a task to beprocessed, and each task index being displayed in a first display formin the task list screen, the first display form including a frame thatis displayed to individually surround the task index such that each ofthe task indices is surrounded by an individual frame, and the firstdisplay form including an application icon that is displayed within theframe and corresponds to the task index, the application icon beingselectable to select the task index to transition to an applicationscreen corresponding to the task index; and in response to a user inputwith respect to a selected one of the task indices displayed in the tasklist screen, causing the display to switch from displaying the task listscreen to displaying an application screen corresponding to the selectedone of the task indices, and causing the display to display the selectedone of the task indices in a second display form as a part of theapplication screen, the second display form including a frame that isdisplayed to individually surround the selected one of the task indices,wherein the second display form does not include the application iconwithin the frame; wherein a size of the selected one of the task indiceson the user display screen is smaller in the second display form than inthe first display form; and wherein a vertical length of the frame ofthe second display form is shorter than a vertical length of the frameof the first display form.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium according to claim 13, wherein the second display formincludes a check box for setting whether the content of the selected oneof the task indices has been processed.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium according to claim 14, wherein theoperations further comprise: causing the display to switch fromdisplaying the application screen back to displaying the task listscreen; and when the display is switched from displaying the applicationscreen back to displaying the task list screen, causing the display todisplay the selected one of the task indices in the task list screen asa processed task, in response to the check box having been set toindicate that the content of the selected one of the task indices hasbeen processed.
 16. A work support system comprising: a processor whichis configured to execute a program to perform operations comprising:referring to schedule data stored in a memory and, based on the scheduledata, causing a display to display a task list screen in which aplurality of tasks to be processed using an application are arranged asa plurality of unprocessed task indices, and in which a plurality oftasks that have been processed using an application are arranged as aplurality of processed task indices, each unprocessed task indexincluding content of a task to be processed and being displayed with aframe that individually surrounds the unprocessed task index such thateach of the unprocessed task indices is surrounded by an individualframe, each unprocessed task index being displayed with an applicationicon that is displayed within the frame and corresponds to the taskindex, the application icon being selectable to select the unprocessedtask index to transition to an application screen corresponding to thetask index, and each processed task index including content of a taskthat has been processed; and in response to a user input with respect toa selected one of the unprocessed task indices displayed in the tasklist screen, causing the display to switch from displaying the task listscreen to displaying the application screen corresponding to theselected one of the unprocessed task indices, and causing the display todisplay the selected one of the unprocessed task indices as a part ofthe application screen with a frame that individually surrounds theselected one of the unprocessed task indices; wherein causing thedisplay to display the selected one of the unprocessed task indices as apart of the application screen comprises reducing a display size of theselected one of the unprocessed task indices, and displaying theselected one of the unprocessed task indices in reduced size and withoutthe application icon, as compared to a display size of the selected oneof the unprocessed task indices in the task list screen, as a part ofthe application screen; and wherein the frame that surrounds theselected one of the unprocessed task indices in the application screenhas a smaller vertical length than the frame that surrounds the selectedone of the unprocessed task indices in the task list screen.
 17. Thework support system according to claim 16, wherein causing the displayto display the selected one of the unprocessed task indices as a part ofthe application screen comprises adding a check box for setting whetherthe content of the selected one of the unprocessed task indices has beenprocessed, to the selected one of the unprocessed task indices displayedas a part of the application screen.
 18. The work support systemaccording to claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise: causingthe display to switch from displaying the application screen back todisplaying the task list screen; and when the display is switched fromdisplaying the application screen back to displaying the task listscreen, causing the display to display the selected unprocessed one ofthe task indices in the task list screen as one of the processed taskindices, in response to the check box having been set to indicate thatthe content of the selected one of the unprocessed task indices has beenprocessed.